Australia welcomed over 4.2 million international visitors during the first half of 2017, a 7.2% increase compared with Hl 2016, according to the Australia Bureau of Statistics. This increase in arrivals helped the country’s hotels reach their highest absolute levels in occupancy, ADR and RevPAR for any Hl on record.

Here are some high level details on how the market’s year is shaping up so far:

While these figures indicate steady growth, it is important to note that these increases occurred at the same time as a 1. 7% growth in supply.

Demand In Hl, hotel demand was mainly driven by transient business (+3.7%), while group demand was up 2.5% following a decline in Hl 2016. Tourism Research Australia expects a decline in outbound travel due to the devaluation of the Australian dollar, which should help hotel demand levels continue to rise as domestic travel becomes more common. Pipeline There are approximately 30,000 rooms set to enter the market over the next five years. Of those, 9,200 are currently in construction. Breaking down the total pipeline, 38% of rooms currently in development fall in the Luxury class while 25% are in the Upper Upscale class.